OTA initiation method for telematics system in 2G GSM/3G WCDMA network

ABSTRACT

The described method and system provide for over-the-air configuration of a telematics-equipped vehicle by wireless carriers and telematics service providers (TSPs). Regardless of whether a telematics-equipped vehicle has been provisioned for cellular service or not, the TSP and wireless carrier may control undesirable location updating from the vehicle, for example, by setting certain triggers or conditions upon the telematics unit before processing location updates provided by the telematics unit. These triggers or conditions may also be programmed into the telematics unit, whether through an OTA configuration session, or pre-loaded during manufacture. The TSP or wireless carrier may conduct OTA configuration sessions with the telematics unit to provision the telematics unit for cellular service, or provide the telematics unit with software or firmware updates.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telematics units within mobile vehicles provide subscribers withconnectivity to a telematics service provider (TSP). The TSP providesthe subscriber with an array of services ranging from emergency callhandling and stolen vehicle recovery to diagnostics monitoring andturn-by-turn navigation. Telematics units are often provisioned andactivated at a point of sale when a subscriber purchases atelematics-equipped vehicle. Upon activation, the telematics unit can beutilized to provide a subscriber with the telematics services.

Telematics units are conventionally pre-loaded with cellular serviceinformation, such as an MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber Integrated ServicesDigital Network Number), IMSI (International Mobile SubscriberIdentity), or other carrier information. However, pre-loading telematicsunits with cellular service information is disadvantageous as itrequires the manufacturer of the telematics unit (which may or may notbe the same manufacturer as the manufacturer of the vehicle) to workwith a wireless carrier and manage the programming of phone numbers andother information into the telematics unit. Additionally, this mayresult in unnecessary network traffic for a cellular carrier astelematics-equipped vehicles may attempt to register with the cellularnetwork before a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) profile is programmedinto an HLR (Home Location Register) of the cellular network.

Thus, it is an object in part to provide a system and method forcontrolling the network-related operations of telematics-equippedvehicles to reduce unnecessary consumption of network resources.However, while this is an object underlying certain implementations ofthe invention, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limitedto systems that solve the problems noted herein. Moreover, the inventorshave created the above body of information for the convenience of thereader and expressly disclaim all of the foregoing as prior art; theforegoing is a discussion of problems discovered and/or appreciated bythe inventors, and is not an attempt to review or catalog the prior art.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a system and method for providing over-the-airconfiguration functionality to a telematics-equipped vehicle by wirelesscarriers and TSPs. The telematics unit of a telematics-equipped vehiclemay send location updates over a network to an MSC (mobile switchingcenter) on the network (which may be a 2G GSM/3G WCDMA network), and theMSC may hold the location updates or process them depending on whether apredetermined condition or trigger has occurred. In one implementation,location updates sent from a telematics unit may be held until the MSCdetermines that cellular service information (such as a SIM, MSISDN,IMSI, or Local Access Number) has been programmed into an HLR on thenetwork. The predetermined condition may also be that the TSP determinesor indicates that the telematics unit is ready to be provisioned withcellular service information.

After the condition is determined to have been met by the MSC, thewireless carrier may initiate an OTA configuration session with thetelematics unit in order to provision the telematics unit with cellularservice information or provide it with software or firmware updates. Thewireless carrier may further determine whether the OTA configurationsession was complete.

In another implementation of the described principles, control over thesending of location updates and OTA configuration may be implemented onthe telematics unit, such as through commands or instructions sent fromthe TSP to the telematics unit. The TSP may instruct the telematics unitnot to send location updates until the occurrence of certain conditionsor triggers, such as an amount of time elapsing, receiving an inputindicating that location updates should be sent, and detection of anemergency situation. After the condition has occurred, the TSP mayinitiate an OTA configuration session with the telematics unit over anetwork to provision the telematics unit with cellular serviceinformation or provide the telematics unit with software or firmwareupdates. The TSP may further determine whether the OTA configurationsession was completed.

In yet another implementation of the described principles, the processesdescribed herein may be stored as instructions on a tangible,non-transient computer-readable medium at the telematics unit,including, for example, instructions for controlling the sending oflocation updates and conducting OTA configuration sessions.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent uponreading the following detailed description and upon reference to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an operating environment for a mobilevehicle communication system usable in implementations of the describedprinciples;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating conventional communications between avehicle and mobile switching centers in a cellular network in accordancewith the operating environment depicted by FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process for OTA configuration inaccordance with an implementation of the described principles; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another process for OTA configurationin accordance with an implementation of the described principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before discussing the details of the invention and the environmentwherein the invention may be used, a brief overview is given to guidethe reader. In general terms, not intended to limit the claims, theinvention is directed to a system and method for providing over-the-airconfiguration to a telematics-equipped vehicle by wireless carriers andTSPs. With respect to telematics-equipped vehicles that are notpre-loaded with cellular information, the TSP may initialize an OTAconfiguration session with a vehicle such that it is provisioned forcellular service, and the TSP may further provide the cellular serviceinformation provisioned to the vehicle to a wireless carrier for storageon the wireless carrier's network (e.g. at an HLR).

Regardless of whether a telematics-equipped vehicle has been provisionedfor cellular service or not, the TSP and wireless carrier may controlundesirable location updating from the vehicle, for example, by settingcertain triggers or conditions upon the telematics unit beforeprocessing location updates provided by the telematics unit. Thesetriggers or conditions may also be programmed into the telematics unit,whether through an OTA configuration session, or pre-loaded duringmanufacture. The telematics unit sends location updates in order to“register” with, or “attach” to, an MSC corresponding to the location ofthe telematics unit.

In some implementations, the OTA configuration session may relate tosetting up the telematics unit for cellular service, and may involve thewireless carrier or TSP sending and receiving information to and fromthe telematics unit such that a user may utilize the telematics unit fortelematics services over the network. In other implementations, the OTAconfiguration session may relate to updating software or firmware on thetelematics unit, and the user of the telematics unit may further begiven the option of declining non-critical updates.

Given this overview, an exemplary environment in which the invention mayoperate is described hereinafter. It will be appreciated that thedescribed environment is an example, and does not imply any limitationregarding the use of other environments to practice the invention. Withreference to FIG. 1 there is shown an example of a communication system100 that may be used with the present method and system and generallyincludes a vehicle 102, a wireless carrier system 104, a land network106 and a call center 108. It should be appreciated that the overallarchitecture, setup and operation, as well as the individual componentsof a system such as that shown here are generally known in the art.Thus, the following paragraphs simply provide a brief overview of onesuch exemplary information system 100; however, other systems not shownhere could employ the present method as well.

Vehicle 102 is preferably a mobile vehicle such as a motorcycle, car,truck, recreational vehicle (RV), boat, plane, etc., and is equippedwith suitable hardware and software that enables it to communicate oversystem 100. Some of the vehicle hardware 110 is shown generally in FIG.1 including a telematics unit 114, a microphone 116, a speaker 118 andbuttons and/or controls 120 connected to the telematics unit 114.Operatively coupled to the telematics unit 114 is a network connectionor vehicle bus 122. Examples of suitable network connections include acontroller area network (CAN), a media oriented system transfer (MOST),a local interconnection network (LIN), an Ethernet, and otherappropriate connections such as those that conform with known ISO, SAE,and IEEE standards and specifications, to name a few.

The telematics unit 114 is an onboard device that provides a variety ofservices through its communication with the call center 108, andgenerally includes an electronic processing device 128 one or more typesof electronic memory 130, a cellular chipset/component 124, a wirelessmodem 126, a dual antenna 160 and a navigation unit containing a GPSchipset/component 132. In one example, the wireless modem 126 iscomprised of a computer program and/or set of software routinesexecuting within processing device 128. The cellular chipset/component124 and the wireless modem 126 may be called the network access device(NAD) of the telematics unit 114.

The telematics unit 114 provides too many services to list them all, butseveral examples include: turn-by-turn directions and othernavigation-related services provided in conjunction with the GPS basedchipset/component 132; airbag deployment notification and otheremergency or roadside assistance-related services provided in connectionwith various crash and or collision sensor interface modules 156 andsensors 158 located throughout the vehicle.

Infotainment-related services where music, Web pages, movies, televisionprograms, video games and/or other content is downloaded by aninfotainment center 136 operatively connected to the telematics unit 114via vehicle bus 122 and audio bus 112. In one example, downloadedcontent is stored for current or later playback.

Again, the above-listed services are by no means an exhaustive list ofall the capabilities of telematics unit 114, as should be appreciated bythose skilled in the art, but are simply an illustration of some of theservices that the telematics unit 114 is capable of offering. It isanticipated that telematics unit 114 include a number of knowncomponents in addition to those listed above.

Vehicle communications preferably use radio transmissions to establish avoice channel with wireless carrier system 104 so that both voice anddata transmissions can be sent and received over the voice channel.Vehicle communications are enabled via the cellular chipset/component124 for voice communications and a wireless modem 126 for datatransmission.

In order to enable successful data transmission over the voice channel,wireless modem 126 applies some type of encoding or modulation toconvert the digital data so that it can communicate through a vocoder orspeech codec incorporated in the cellular chipset/component 124. Anysuitable encoding or modulation technique that provides an acceptabledata rate and bit error can be used with the present method. Dual modeantenna 160 services the GPS chipset/component and the cellularchipset/component.

Microphone 116 provides the driver or other vehicle occupant with ameans for inputting verbal or other auditory commands, and can beequipped with an embedded voice processing unit utilizing ahuman/machine interface (HMI) technology known in the art. Conversely,speaker 118 provides verbal output to the vehicle occupants and can beeither a stand-alone speaker specifically dedicated for use with thetelematics unit 114 or can be part of a vehicle audio component 154. Ineither event, microphone 116 and speaker 118 enable vehicle hardware 110and call center 108 to communicate with the occupants through audiblespeech.

The vehicle hardware also includes one or more buttons or controls 120for enabling a vehicle occupant to activate or engage one or more of thevehicle hardware components 110. For example, one of the buttons 120 canbe an electronic push button used to initiate voice communication withcall center 108 (whether it be a live advisor 148 or an automated callresponse system). In another example, one of the buttons 120 can be usedto initiate emergency services.

The audio component 154 is operatively connected to the vehicle bus 122and the audio bus 112. The audio component 154 receives analoginformation, rendering it as sound, via the audio bus 112. Digitalinformation is received via the vehicle bus 122. The audio component 154provides AM and FM radio, CD, DVD, and multimedia functionalityindependent of the infotainment center 136. Audio component 154 maycontain a speaker system, or may utilize speaker 118 via arbitration onvehicle bus 122 and/or audio bus 112.

The vehicle crash and/or collision detection sensor interface 156 areoperatively connected to the vehicle bus 122. The crash sensors 158provide information to the telematics unit 114 via the crash and/orcollision detection sensor interface 156 regarding the severity of avehicle collision, such as the angle of impact and the amount of forcesustained.

Vehicle sensors 162, connected to various sensor interface modules 134are operatively connected to the vehicle bus 122. Example vehiclesensors include but are not limited to gyroscopes, accelerometers,magnetometers, emission detection and/or control sensors, and the like.Example sensor interface modules 134 include power train control,climate control, and body control, to name but a few.

Wireless carrier system 104 is preferably a cellular telephone system orany other suitable wireless system that transmits signals between thevehicle hardware 110 and land network 106. According to an example,wireless carrier system 104 includes one or more cell towers 138, basestations and/or mobile switching centers (MSCs) 140, as well as anyother networking components required to connect the wireless system 104with land network 106. A component in the mobile switching center mayinclude a remote data server.

As appreciated by those skilled in the art, various cell tower/basestation/MSC arrangements are possible and could be used with wirelesssystem 104 (also referred to as the “cellular network” herein). Forexample, a base station and a cell tower could be co-located at the samesite or they could be remotely located, and a single base station couldbe coupled to various cell towers or various base stations could becoupled with a single MSC, to name but a few of the possiblearrangements. Preferably, a speech codec or vocoder is incorporated inone or more of the base stations, but depending on the particulararchitecture of the wireless network, it could be incorporated within aMobile Switching Center or some other network components as well.

Land network 106 can be a conventional land-based telecommunicationsnetwork that is connected to one or more landline telephones andconnects wireless carrier network 104 to call center 108. For example,land network 106 can include a public switched telephone network (PSTN)and/or an Internet protocol (IP) network, as is appreciated by thoseskilled in the art. Of course, one or more segments of the land network106 can be implemented in the form of a standard wired network, a fiberor other optical network, a cable network, other wireless networks suchas wireless local networks (WLANs) or networks providing broadbandwireless access (BWA), or any combination thereof.

Call Center (OCC) 108 is designed to provide the vehicle hardware 110with a number of different system back-end functions and, according tothe example shown here, generally includes one or more switches 142,servers 144, databases 146, live advisors 148, as well as a variety ofother telecommunication and computer equipment 150 that is known tothose skilled in the art. These various call center components arepreferably coupled to one another via a network connection or bus 152,such as the one previously described in connection with the vehiclehardware 110. Switch 142, which can be a private branch exchange (PBX)switch, routes incoming signals so that voice transmissions are usuallysent to either the live advisor 148 or an automated response system, anddata transmissions are passed on to a modem or other piece of equipment150 for demodulation and further signal processing.

The modem 150 preferably includes an encoder, as previously explained,and can be connected to various devices such as a server 144 anddatabase 146. For example, database 146 could be designed to storesubscriber profile records, subscriber behavioral patterns, or any otherpertinent subscriber information. Although the illustrated example hasbeen described as it would be used in conjunction with a manned callcenter 108, it will be appreciated that the call center 108 can be anycentral or remote facility, manned or unmanned, mobile or fixed, to orfrom which it is desirable to exchange voice and data.

With further reference to the architecture of FIG. 1, and turning morespecifically to FIG. 2, a diagram 200 is depicted showing an example oflocation updating performed by a telematics-equipped vehicle 240. In oneimplementation. the wireless network is a 2G GSM/3G WCDMA (2G GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications/3G Wideband Code Division MultipleAccess) network, and the telematics unit of vehicle 240 has already beenprovisioned with cellular service information. The IMSI or SIMinformation and the MSISDN or Local Access Number associated with thevehicle are stored at an HLR 212 connected to a first MSC 210 to whichthe vehicle is assigned. A VLR (Visitor Location Register) 211 is alsoconnected to the first MSC 210.

When the vehicle 240 enters the region 201 serviced by a second MSC 220,the vehicle 240 updates its location 204 with the VLR (Visitor LocationRegister) 221 connected to the second MSC 220, and the second MSC 220updates the HLR 212 at the first MSC 210 of the new vehicle location.Similarly, when the vehicle 240 travels 203 to the region 202 servicedby a third MSC 230, the vehicle 240 updates 205 the VLR 231 connected tothe third MSC 230, which may further update the first two MSCs 210, 220regarding the vehicle's new location.

In another implementation, the vehicle telematics unit may not beprovisioned with cellular service information yet, and the vehicle 240may send location updates based on an equipment identifier—such as amobile equipment identifier (MEID), electronic serial number (ESN),international mobile equipment identifier (IMEI), integrated circuitcard identifier (ICCID), or other types of equipment identifiers—and acommon MIN (Mobile ID Number), MDN (Mobile Directory Number), Local AreaNumber, MSISDN, or IMSI associated with inactive or deactivatedtelematics units.

It may be undesirable to process location updates from telematics unitsthat have not been provisioned with cellular service information untilthe telematics unit is to be provisioned. For example, if a consumerpurchases a telematics-equipped vehicle and does not purchase asubscription requiring cellular service right away, all the locationupdates sent by the purchased vehicle are unnecessary, as the TSP andthe wireless carrier do not need to know the location of the vehicleuntil it the TSP or wireless carrier needs to provision the vehicle(e.g. when the customer purchases certain TSP services).

These unnecessary location updates waste network resources, and can beavoided by implementing control over location update processing at theMSC by holding undesired location update messages from vehicles thathave not yet been provisioned. Alternatively, the telematics unit of thevehicle may also be programmed such that it only begins sending outlocation updates when necessary (e.g. when it receives an input thatindicates it is going to be provisioned).

It will be appreciated that the TSP and wireless carrier may control howand when to hold location updating throughout the lifecycle of a SIMsubscription, whether through the MSCs or through the telematics unit,and that it may be controlled in a variety of ways. For example, the TSPsend a command to a telematics unit to instruct the telematics unit notto send location updates for a set period of time (e.g. a certain amountof time elapses), or upon the occurrence of another trigger or condition(e.g. detection of an emergency event such as an accident or theft, orreceiving an input instructing it to resume sending location updates).

With further reference to the architecture of FIGS. 1 and 2, and turningmore specifically to FIG. 3, a process 300 is depicted illustrating aprocess for initiating OTA configuration for a telematics-equippedvehicle in order to provision it with cellular service information. Theprocessing of location updates may first depend on initial flag settingby the wireless carrier or the TSP at MSCs or telematics units. Forexample, a flag value may be set to “false” until the occurrence of apredetermined trigger 301, and until that trigger 301 occurs, nolocation update processing for a particular vehicle will occur.

The trigger may be, for example, the TSP informing the wireless carrierthat the particular vehicle is ready to be provisioned, or may be theassignment of certain cellular information to the vehicle (such as anIMSI or SIM and MSISDN or Local Access Number). In one implementation,even if a trigger occurs, a location update may not be processed until aprofile corresponding to the vehicle is programmed into an HLR on thewireless carrier network (e.g. a SIM profile). If the wireless carrieror TSP determines through the telematics unit or MSCs that a SIM profileis not present in the HLR 303, the wireless carrier or TSP may prohibitlocation updating and may prohibit OTA configuration from beinginitiated. After the wireless carrier or TSP determines that the SIMprofile has been programmed into the HLR 303, then location updating andinitiation of OTA configuration may be allowed to proceed.

After the occurrence of a trigger, the TSP or the wireless carrier mayinitiate OTA configuration (i.e. an over-the-air programming session)305 to provision the vehicle with cellular service information andconfigure the telematics unit to allow a user to access TSP servicesover the cellular network. It will be appreciated that initiating OTAconfiguration may involve processing a location update to determine thelocation of the vehicle on the network. Then, the TSP or the wirelesscarrier, or both, may send provisioning information to the vehicle andcheck 307 whether the vehicle has been successfully provisioned.

For example, in one implementation, the TSP or the wireless carrier maysend a test command to the telematics unit commanding it to perform alocation update to check whether it has been configured properly. Ifprovisioning was not completed successfully 307, the TSP or wirelesscarrier may continue attempting to complete it. Upon determination thatthe provisioning is complete 307, the telematics unit may display orplay a prompt 309 to the user indicating completion of the OTA, and mayfurther indicate the MSISDN or Local Access Number assigned to thetelematics unit.

In a further implementation, if the TSP specified the cellular serviceinformation to be assigned to the telematics unit, the telematics unitor the wireless carrier (or both) may further send a confirmation to theTSP of the cellular service information actually assigned to thetelematics unit, which may include the MSISDN or Local Access Number311. In yet another further implementation, if the wireless carrierspecified the cellular service information to be assigned to thetelematics unit, the telematics unit or the wireless carrier (or both)may further send an update to the TSP which informs the TSP of thecellular service information that was assigned to the telematics unit311. Furthermore, after the TSP has received a confirmation or updatefrom the telematics unit or wireless carrier (or both), the TSP mayattempt to connect with the telematics unit utilizing the cellularservice information provided to the TSP to ensure that the telematicsunit has been provisioned properly. It will be appreciated that thetelematics unit may be provisioned at any location on the networkregardless of which MSC's HLR the telematics unit's IMSI and MSISDN areassigned to.

With further reference to the architecture of FIG. 1 and the process ofFIG. 2, and turning more specifically to FIG. 4, a process 400 isdepicted illustrating another process for initiating OTA configurationfor a telematics-equipped vehicle in other applications, such asproviding software or firmware updates and providing users with anoption to download and install additional functionality. For example, inone implementation, a TSP, wireless carrier, or telematics unit maydetermine that a trigger has occurred 401 based on the development of anew software or firmware version of a program on the telematics unit. Inanother example, the trigger 401 might be set to an amount of time thathas elapsed since the software or firmware on the telematics unit waslast updated (e.g. the telematics unit could update to the latestversion once a year).

After determination that the trigger or condition has been met, the TSP,wireless carrier, or telematics unit initiates OTA configuration 403 bysetting up a connection between the telematics unit and the TSP orbetween the telematics unit and the wireless carrier over the wirelessnetwork, and the telematics unit may receive software or firmwareupdates over the air. In one implementation, the update may be anoptional feature, and the user of the telematics unit may choose todecline or approve 405 the OTA configuration session. If approved, theTSP or the wireless carrier may determine whether the download or updatewas successful 407. For example, the telematics unit may perform a checkor hash function on the received data and transmit it back to the TSP orwireless carrier to check for completion.

When the TSP or wireless carrier has verified that the download orupdate is complete, the telematics unit may display or play a prompt 409to the user indicating completion of the OTA. In a furtherimplementation, the OTA configuration session may have simply downloadedan application that needs to be executed or installed, and thetelematics unit may display a prompt 409 requesting approval from theuser to execute or install the application, or may simply indicate tothe user that the application is being executed or installed.

It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the executionof the various machine-implemented processes and steps described hereinmay occur via the computerized execution of computer-executableinstructions stored on a tangible computer-readable medium, e.g., RAM,ROM, PROM, volatile, nonvolatile, or other electronic memory mechanism.Thus, for example, the operations performed by the telematics unit maybe carried out according to stored instructions or applicationsinstalled on the telematics unit, and operations performed at the MSCsmay be carried out according to stored instructions or applicationsinstalled at the MSCs. It will further be appreciated thatcommunications between the telematics unit and the TSP referred toherein may be carried out through the TSP call center, andcommunications between the telematics unit and the wireless carrier arecarried out through components of the wireless carrier's network.

It will be appreciated that the described system and method allows forprovisioning of a telematics unit on a telematics-equipped vehicle withcellular service information without pre-loading the cellular serviceinformation during manufacture of the vehicle or telematics unit. Itwill also be appreciated, however, that the foregoing methods andimplementations are merely examples of the inventive principles, andthat these illustrate only preferred techniques.

It is thus contemplated that other implementations of the invention maydiffer in detail from foregoing examples. As such, all references to theinvention are intended to reference the particular example of theinvention being discussed at that point in the description and are notintended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the invention moregenerally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect tocertain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for thosefeatures, but not to exclude such from the scope of the inventionentirely unless otherwise indicated.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the invention (especially in the context of thefollowing claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and theplural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted bycontext. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing”are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, butnot limited to”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of valuesherein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referringindividually to each separate value falling within the range, unlessotherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated intothe specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methodsdescribed herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwiseindicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The useof any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the inventionand does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unlessotherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construedas indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice ofthe invention.

Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalentsof the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permittedby applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-describedelements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by theinvention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearlycontradicted by context.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for processing a location updatefrom a telematics unit, the method comprising: receiving, at a mobileswitching center (MSC), a location update from a telematics unit of atelematics-equipped vehicle over a network; determining, at the MSC,that cellular service information corresponding to the telematics unithas not yet been programmed into an Home Location Register (HLR) on thenetwork, and, in response, holding the location update; and determiningthat the cellular service information corresponding to the telematicsunit is programmed into an HLR on the network, and, in response,initiating an over-the-air (OTA) configuration session with thetelematics unit so as to configure the telematics unit for cellularservices.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cellular serviceinformation includes at least one Subscriber Identity Module (SIM,Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN),Local Access Number, and International Mobile Subscriber Identity(IMSI).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the OTA configuration sessionfurther comprises: provisioning the telematics unit with at least one ofa Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), Mobile Subscriber IntegratedServices Digital Network Number (MSISDN), Local Access Number, andInternational Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising: determining, at the MSC, whether the OTAconfiguration session is complete.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theOTA configuration session further comprises: sending, to the telematicsunit, data corresponding to at least one of a software update and afirmware update.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is a 2GGlobal System for Mobile Communications/3G Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (2G GSM/3G WCDMA) network.
 7. A method for processinglocation updates by a telematics unit, the method comprising: sending,to the telematics unit from a call center, an instruction not to sendlocation updates until cellular service information corresponding to thetelematics unit is programmed into an Home Location Register (HLR) onthe network; and determining, by the call center, that the cellularservice information corresponding to the telematics unit is programmedinto an HLR on the network, and, in response, initiating, at the callcenter, an over-the-air (OTA) configuration session with the telematicsunit and notifying the telematics unit that cellular service informationcorresponding to the telematics unit was programmed into an HLR on thenetwork.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein after the OTA configurationsession has occurred, the method further comprises: sending a furtherinstruction to the telematics unit to not send location updates untilthe occurrence of a predetermined condition, wherein the predeterminedcondition is at least one of the following: a predetermined amount oftime has elapsed; receiving an input at the telematics unit indicatingthat location updates should he sent; and detection of an emergencysituation.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the OTA configurationsession comprises: provisioning the telematics unit with at least one ofa Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), Mobile Subscriber IntegratedServices Digital Network Number (MSISDN), Local Access Number, andInternational Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).
 10. The method of claim9, wherein the OTA configuration session further comprises: sending, tothe telematics unit, data corresponding to at least one of a softwareupdate and a firmware update.
 11. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: determining, at the call center, whether the OTAconfiguration session is complete.
 12. A tangible, non-transientcomputer-readable medium, part of a telematics unit on atelematics-equipped vehicle, having thereon computer executableinstructions for sending location updates over a network, the computerexecutable instructions comprising instructions for: sending a locationupdate over a network based on whether cellular service informationcorresponding to the telematics unit has been programmed into an HomeLocation Register (HLR) on the network; and determining that thecellular service information corresponding to the telematics unit isprogrammed into an HLR on the network, and, in response, connecting toat least one of a call center and a wireless carrier over the network toconduct an over-the-air (OTA) configuration session.
 13. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer executableinstructions further comprise instructions for: receiving and storing atleast one of a Subscriber Identity Module(SIM), Mobile SubscriberIntegrated Services Digital Network Number (MSISDN), Local AccessNumber, and International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).
 14. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer executableinstructions further comprise instructions for: receiving at least oneof a software update and a firmware update; and executing the receivedupdate.
 15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein thecomputer executable instructions further comprise instructions for:determining whether the OTA configuration session is complete.